The present invention relates to a card reading apparatus, and more particularly to an improvement in a feed mode of cards accommodated or inserted in a hopper.
A card reading apparatus for reading a card bearing digital information such as a punched card, a marked card or a marked sheet usually comprises a hopper, a reading station and a stacker. The cards are accommodated or inserted in the hopper. A card weight is disposed on the card stack. The cards in the hopper are fed to the reading station. The reading station usually reads digital holes or marks by optical means. The cards read at the reading station are fed to the stacker where they are accommodated.
In one prior art method for feeding the card from the hopper to the reading station in such a card reading apparatus, a start switch is provided to start the card feed operation and a sequential read mode in which the cards stacked in the hopper are fed to the reading station sequentially one at a time by the depression of the switch and a signal card read mode in which one of the cards in the hopper is fed to the reading station for each depression of the switch are used to select the card feed mode in order to enhance the operability. In the signal card read mode, a first type of operation for feeding one card from the stack of cards in the hopper to the reading station for each depression of the start switch and a second type of operation in which an operator inserts a card to the hopper as required and the inserted card is fed to the reading station may be required. The first type of operation is effective when it is desired to read the cards stacked in the hopper one at a time. The second type of operation is effective when the frequency of occurrence of data to be read by the card reading apparatus is sporadically or the data having time restriction in the reading operation is to be read.
However, in such a card operation, the start switch has to be depressed each time when the card is to be read and the card weight has to be set on the card stack in the hopper. Thus, the operability is very poor. Furthermore, in a certain prior art card reading apparatus, even if the start switch is depressed to feed the card and rotate a card feed motor, the rotation of the motor is stopped unless the card is inserted in the hopper within a predetermined time period. Thus, the operability is much more poor.